Anthony Weiner's relapse reveals untrustworthiness

Wednesday

On vacation earlier this month, I took along something that had sat unread on my nightstand since April: The New York Times Magazine with Anthony Weiner and Huma Abedin on the cover.

The story, declaring the resurrection of the former New York congressman, seemed orchestrated by the couple to boost Weiner’s mayoral prospects in New York. It made him look contrite, remorseful toward his wife, the former Hillary Clinton aide, and remade into a faithful husband and family man after being forced to resign over his tweets and texts of salacious messages and pictures of his penis.

And it seemed phony. Weiner attributed the behavior to his need for approval and affirmation — which clearly contradicted the acerbic, combative side of his personality the article also described.

Last week, it turned out it was phony. Weiner was forced to admit at a press conference that a year after leaving Congress, he had done those tawdry things again. And again and again, even after the birth of his baby.

The Times came back swinging, its editorial page calling on “the serially evasive Mr. Weiner” to get out of the mayor’s race. That has prompted vigorous online debate, even as Weiner’s poll numbers have plummeted and his campaign manager quit.

Weiner’s defenders suggest his antics are irrelevant. “All Weiner has done is embarrass himself, yet we don’t bat an eye at those who are guilty of white-collar crimes, embezzle from the state, seek to destroy the nation as a matter of stated ideology, and are otherwise guilty of real crimes,” opined one on The Times website. Some said cybertexting, unlike workplace sexual harassment, is victimless.

One thing you can say for Weiner is that he’s forcing Americans to look at ourselves — if not exactly the way he’s forced some to look at him. The bizarre exhibitionism, the apparently insatiable need to have his manhood affirmed, and the steadfast and vocal support from his betrayed wife offer new challenges for consciences.

It was easier when cheating was clear-cut physical engagement with people other than one’s spouse. But given the blurring lines between public and private, sex and sexting, fantasy and infidelity, the rules are squishy. And even then, extramarital affairs and lies about them, even with prostitutes and interns, don’t keep politicians down for long.

One online respondent who forgave Weiner the first time, calling his offenses “less egregious than those of Elliot Spitzer, David Vitter, Larry Craig, Bill Clinton or many others,” has concluded Weiner has a problem with the truth. Others call him arrogant, self-destructive, disdainful of the public and incapable of rational judgment. Words like “hubris” and “narcissism” and “subject to blackmail” have been tossed around.

To complicate matters, the person most deceived by his lies and humiliations — Abedin — stands by his side, urging support for him. On the other side, a 23-year-old woman with whom the 48-year-old Weiner — aka Carlos Danger — cybertexted, expresses disgust with him, “a perpetually horny middle-aged man.” She had once revered him for his passionate political convictions. He apparently took advantage.

Weiner has become something of a self-parody. “Some of these things happened before my resignation, some of them happened after,” he said at the press conference, “but the fact is that that was also the time that my wife and I were working through some things in our marriage.”

Those “things,” he neglected to say, were caused by his identical behavior the last time.

New York’s National Organization for Women has called on Weiner to drop out of the race, saying he’s “clearly and compellingly unfit for public office.”

Questions of sex aside, Weiner’s conduct reveals an untrustworthy, unscrupulous character. Who wouldn’t he sell out for his own hedonistic needs? And what good is it to support the right causes if you’re unethical and disloyal even to the most important person in your life?

As Queens video company owner Kishore Belani, who recently donated to Weiner’s campaign, told The Times, “For children, this is not a good politician to learn from.”

It’s Abedin’s choice if she wants to stay married to a sleazebag. But Belani, a father, is done helping resurrect one.